Watery glues other than superglues?

[Stephen Tashiro]

Superglue is nice for squirting into tiny cracks and checks in wood before doing anything more heavy duty to them, but it's a relatively expensive glue and sold in small containers. Are there less expensive glues for this purpose? It wouldn't matter to me if they were slower drying. I'd like a watery glue that doesn't build up on the surface.

[Van Huskey]

Superglue is nice for squirting into tiny cracks and checks in wood before doing anything more heavy duty to them, but it's a relatively expensive glue and sold in small containers. Are there less expensive glues for this purpose? It wouldn't matter to me if they were slower drying. I'd like a watery glue that doesn't build up on the surface.

I am curious how much you need, CA glues are easy to find in 16oz and larger quantities and usually retail at about 1.50 an ounce or so in the larger bottles. I don't know of anything with similar properties to CA that would be cheaper.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Just to add on, you can safely store CA in the large bottles in the fridge. It will stay liquid for a long time. Transfer what you need into small bottles. If you keep that in the fridge also, you'll be fine.

[Stephen Tashiro]

I am curious how much you need, CA glues are easy to find in 16oz and larger quantities and usually retail at about 1.50 an ounce or so in the larger bottles.

Then I need to expand my horizons in glue buying! The typical bottle that I see at the big box hardware stores is "Loctite", "Net Wt. .14 oz". I do find that design to be a handy bottle.

[Van Huskey]

Then I need to expand my horizons in glue buying! The typical bottle that I see at the big box hardware stores is "Loctite", "Net Wt. .14 oz". I do find that design to be a handy bottle.

Just one example:

http://woodenwonderstx.com/ZC_WoodenWonders/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&sort=20a&page=2

If you read his "mission statement" he started the business to bring lower CA prices to turners.

[ian maybury]

One similar (at least in terms of its watery viscosity) adhesive is the Veritas Chair Doctor glue - it's fairly widely available. It seems like a low viscosity PVA, hopefully more than just a watered down one. It does cure pretty quickly for a glue of that type.

It's also designed to wick into narrow gaps by capillary action, and in this case to swell end grain before it cures to give a tight fit. It definitely bonds well, but I've not done enough with it to be able to really say what it's good at. You'd need to get some and play with it to figure what it can and can not do...

ian

[Peter Quinn]

You can thin epoxy with lacquer thinner but I doubt that will save you any money versus CA glue, and it will reduce the strength of the epoxy. 5% is the maximum percentage of thinner that may be used according to the west systems info on their site, and they don't really recommend it as a first option. One thing that has worked for me in some circumstances is to thin regular PVA glue like tite bond with water, up to 10%-15%, so it can be applied with a syringe, then open a crack up with a razor knife or similar wedge, inject some glue and clamp across the crack. I have even hammered a plane iron into a check to open it up a bit on purpose and glue it back together this way. Better than throwing a piece in the fire place. Its not guaranteed to work but it seems to work more than not and doesn't cost much.

[Dave Lehnert]

It don't address the small issue you speak of but have found that the super glue from Gorilla Glue keeps very well in the bottle. I had the same bottle for a year with no dry-out issues.

184009

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stephen....turners use a lot of CA glue.....Here's one place I have bought CA.... http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/Cyanoacrylate_Glue.htm

Here's another place.... http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Adhesives___Instant_Glue?Args=

and as shown above.....there are other places.